Apple iPhone Heading to Verizon Says Wall Street Journal [update]

We’re pretty confident in the fact that if you’ve paid attention to Apple over the last three years, then you probably expected Apple to be working on a successor to the iPhone 3GS. In fact, unless Apple had axed the project altogether, we imagine that many would consider that it’s a sure thing. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is not only working on one iPhone, but two. And where’s the second one going? You guessed it: Verizon.

There’s been rumors regarding the existence of a Verizon Wireless-based for about two years now. Ever since the launch of the iPhone 3G, in fact, there’s been talks of Apple finding a way to break free of that exclusive contract with AT&T, and jumping ship to the Big Red network. Of course, these are unconfirmed rumors, and WSJ is citing “people briefed on the matter,” so go ahead and get that salt ready.

The new iPhone for AT&T is being manufactured by Taiwanese-based Hon Hai Precision, who has manufactured all of the previous version of the iPhone as well. The CDMA version will be manufactured by Pegatron Technology Corp., which is a manufacturing subsidiary of ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated. Apparently, Pegatron Technology is set to start mass producing the device in September, but there’s no word on when Apple might want to announce the device, let alone start releasing it for mass consumption. (Perhaps, to combat another platform launching this holiday season?) No official word is coming from any of the companies involved, so we’ll have to wait with our fingers crossed before we get any official word. Anyone out there going to switch to Verizon if they do indeed announce a CDMA-based device?

[Update]: Looks like we have some input from Mr. John Gruber himself, and we’re listening. According to him, the Wall Street Journal‘s attempt at an iPhone rumor was ill-fated, and produced nothing but information we already knew. Yes, there’s going to be a new iPhone this year. End of story. However, he also added what he’s heard in regards to rumors, and, like we said, we’re listening. He’s saying that the WSJ should have mentioned the A4-family CPU system-on-a-chip; the 960×640 double-resolution display; the front-facing camera; or the multitasking that iPhone OS 4 is going to bring to the table.